Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: This is a very interesting book written by a very accessible author. The book deconstructs the various methods of control that big business exerts over consumers. Persuasion is the use of logic to steer someone's mind but coercion is a subtle and behind-the-scenes attempt to fool a person into thinking or buying something. It is trickery of the mind. This book is not only a great read for those interested in psychology, marketing, advertising, politics and culture, but it is usefully enlightening to the average citizen who is the target of these disturbing practices.
Rating: 
Summary: mediocre and annoying
Review: This is a very mediocre book, and somewhat annoying to read. It is annoying because Rushkoff attempts to coerce the reader into accepting his subjective views with a breathless, repetitive use of the same adjectives and opinions throughout. It is mediocre because it is short on substantive research - either psychological or market research; possibly, a lot of the good market research is proprietary. Its strong points are Rushkoff's anecdotes, and some good summaries of what is going on in marketing, including advertising, sales environment, and salesmanship. Incidentally, I am fairly liberal, so it is not my ideology speaking.
Rating:
Summary: mediocre and annoying
Review: This is a very mediocre book, and somewhat annoying to read. It is annoying because Rushkoff attempts to coerce the reader into accepting his subjective views with a breathless, repetitive use of the same adjectives and opinions throughout. It is mediocre because it is short on substantive research - either psychological or market research; possibly, a lot of the good market research is proprietary. Its strong points are Rushkoff's anecdotes, and some good summaries of what is going on in marketing, including advertising, sales environment, and salesmanship. Incidentally, I am fairly liberal, so it is not my ideology speaking.
Rating:
Summary: Effective mix of empirical and anecdotatal evidence...
Review: This is an enlightening read--a broad overview of subtle coercion and a definitive explanation of the ubiquitous "they" who have so much influence over most of us. From Rushkoff's explication of atmospherics (how businesses use subtle changes in shopping environments to make people stay longer and spend more) to a detailed exploration of how cults get and retain members (a chilling analysis), this book shines a light on some otherwise dark corners of persuasion. But most importantly, it acts as an antidote. Most forms of subtle persuasion don't work when its targets realize the existence of the persuasive technique. This book arms its readers with an arsenal of knowledge, debunking the power of "they." I strongly recommend. I couldn't put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary.
Review: This is one of those books that is at once fascinating, horrifying, thought-provoking, and makes me want to have nothing to do with advertising. It covers all kinds of methods people use to coerce others, from car salespeople to marketers and copywriters. An interesting read.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware--It's all a conspiracy
Review: While this book contains some interesting factoids on consumer behavior and a cool write-up of CIA coercive tactics, I found the book unsatisfying for three key reasons. 1) He seems to equate all targeted marketing with some grand conspiracy -- c'mon. 2) Consumers are made out to be silly puddy without the ability to make reasoned, rational choices on their own. 3) Towards the last half of the book the author laments that his hope for the Internet to be a great savior from all this coercion is not coming to pass. Give me a break--who thought the Internet was devoid of commercial influences? The book wasn't solely without good points. The amount of information on individual consumers that is freely traded by corporations (especially credit card companies) is indeed troubling. And I do have to admit that I purchased this book after it was featured on the Amazon homepage...
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